Ian Cowie was named Consumer Affairs Journalist of the Year in the
London Press Club Awards 2012. He has been head of personal finance at
Telegraph Media Group since 2008, having been personal finance editor
since 1989. He joined the paper in 1986. He is @iancowie on Twitter.

New research also suggests rising numbers of baby boomers are avoiding IHT by spending the kids’ inheritance – sometimes called the SKI manoevre – meaning many adult children’s hopes of bequests will be bitterly disappointed.

Richard Mannion a director of Smith & Williamson accountants commented: “Total IHT receipts are a drop in the bucket so far as the total tax take is concerned.”

Formerly, many husbands and wives only utilised one allowance because most leave all assets to the surviving partner. Now, with the nil rate band set at £325,000, only married couples with assets exceeding their debts at the time of the second partner’s death by £650,000 need pay IHT.

Even fewer are likely to exceed that threshold in future as more people born immediately after the Second World War eat into savings to make ends meet in retirement. Skipton Financial Services questioned 1,000 people aged over 50 and found that half of them said they expect to have to spend money they had once hoped to leave to children.

More than a third said leaving an inheritance would put a strain on their finances and more than a fifth said they do not expect to leave anything to anyone else when they die.

That could lead to awkward scenes at the graveside and leave many adult children bitterly disappointed. Skipton questioned 1,000 people aged under 35 and found that more than 60pc expect to receive an inheritance.

Andrew Barker, managing director of Skipton Financial Services, said: ‘’It is no surprise that with rising taxes, university debt growing by the year and mortgages much more unaffordable than before the credit crunch, young people are more and more desperate for a financial helping hand from their parents.

“It is particularly scary that, whilst almost two thirds of youngsters are expecting to receive an inheritance, for the vast majority of these it is purely an assumption as only one in four have has a conversation with their parents about the inheritance.”

Perhaps they fear getting a flea in their ear if they do raise the topic. Adults a decade or more past adolescence should not rely on parents to solve their financial problems. Where parents do come to the rescue, that is a gift – not an obligation.